Secretary of State Clinton has stated that "No option is off the table" concerning Libya, and many Washington insiders are calling for military intervention, perhaps in the form of a No Fly Zone. Is this the first step into yet another foreign war?

A courageous and determined opposition in Libya is fighting to overthrow the dictatorial Qaddafi regime. We condemn the inhumane and illegal attacks of that regime on its own people, and insist that the government immediately end all such brutality. The Libyan people have the right to determine their own government and society. They have the right to express peacefully their opposition to and protest of the current government. We affirms our core belief that a truly democratic society does not resort to war or other military means to resolve disputes.

While we acknowledge and abhor the high costs of Qaddafi's brutal repression, we strongly oppose any US, EU or UN military intervention in Libya. Such intervention runs a major risk of escalating into a prolonged conflict whose death toll would far outstrip the numbers this murderous regime has already killed. Outside military intervention will only worsen an already difficult situation, tempting local rivals to intervene, and increasing divisions within Libya. It poses the distinct risk of making the villain Qaddafi into the reincarnation of Omar Mukhtar, the great leader of the resistance to Italian colonialism. In a country once colonized, where up to one-third of the population lost their lives because of the actions of the fascist and pre-fascist regimes; it will arouse widespread fears of neocolonial dominance.

We remember that past U.S. interventions, whether justified on humanitarian grounds or for democracy promotion, have quickly escalated into full scale military involvements that cost innumerable civilian lives, discredited opposition movements and diminished the prospects of democracy. Even so seemingly limited an intervention as establishing a no-fly zone, as Secretary of Defense Gates has stated, would require destruction of Libyan air defenses, which is an act of war. Many in the Libyan opposition have asked outsiders not to intervene so that the Libyans can liberate themselves.